Ben Carson is “woefully unqualified” to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) said Monday.

Cummings, the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, praised Carson as a “phenomenal neurosurgeon” but lamented his lack of experience in housing policy, suggesting Carson would be out of his league atop HUD.

{mosads}“It is clear President-elect Trump has no interest in protecting American homeowners from Wall Street abuses,” Cummings said. “His pick to lead the Treasury Department [Steven Mnuchin] is a Wall Street hedge fund manager who made millions of dollars putting Americans out of their homes, and he has now selected someone woefully unqualified to run the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“Mr. Trump said during the campaign he would support working-class Americans, but his appointments make it clear he intends nothing of the sort.”

President-elect Donald Trump said Monday he intends to appoint Carson, a doctor-turned-politician who challenged Trump for the Republican presidential nomination, to serve as his Housing secretary.

Carson is a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon, but before his 2016 presidential campaign the doctor had little political experience. His former campaign manager said last month that he was not interested in running the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

“Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience; he’s never run a federal agency,” Armstrong Williams, Carson’s friend and former campaign manager, told The Hill. “The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.”

But Carson changed his tune when it came to leading HUD.

“I feel that I can make a significant contribution particularly by strengthening communities that are most in need,” Carson said Monday in the statement. “We have much work to do in enhancing every aspect of our nation and ensuring that our nation’s housing needs are met.”

Trump praised Carson for his “brilliant mind.”

“We have talked at length about my urban renewal agenda and our message of economic revival, very much including our inner cities,” Trump said Monday in a statement. “Ben shares my optimism about the future of our country and is part of ensuring that this is a presidency representing all Americans.”